-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- `` I can not tell you how excited I am that later today we will be playing football on my grandmother 's lawn . One warning , though : if anyone breaks a window , you can answer to her . ''

The Duke of Cambridge was speaking just before the first official football match at Buckingham Palace .

Prince William , the heir to the British throne , is President of the English Football Association -LRB- FA -RRB- , a role he says is an extension of a personal passion :

`` The beautiful game has changed an awful lot during the queen 's reign , but it remains the most loved game in the country , most probably the world , '' he said .

He describes football as `` a chance to escape with friends and family and enjoy its virtues -- teamwork , competition , endeavor and , more occasionally on my part , skill . ''

On Monday he had a chance to show off those skills on the specially prepared pitch at the Palace .

Wearing boots given to him by Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney , he joined members of the queen 's household team in a training session .

Prince William is a fan of English Premier League side Aston Villa but he chose two teams from lower leagues to play a full 90-minute match on the royal grounds to mark the 150th anniversary of the FA .

Civil Service FC is the only surviving member of the FA formed in 1863 , and Polytechnic FC was formed slightly later in 1875 .

But the day was really about rewarding the unsung heroes of the national game : `` Grassroots football thrives on the support of its volunteers week after week , '' he said .

Many of those volunteers were invited to the palace to see the match .

There was nothing but praise for the royal groundsmen who spent weeks getting the garden match-fit .

Watch : Max Foster interviews Prince William

This is a space normally graced only by family members and the odd garden party . It has its own unique challenges for a city center garden .

The park-like space is a flourishing habitat for wildlife including a large gaggle of geese whose droppings litter the entire space at this time of year .

The groundsmen spent much of the morning cleaning up the football pitch with a vacuum cleaner .

They then swept away the carpet of leaves away with wooden brooms .

But the fact the Queen was away did provide one advantage : `` There should n't be any corgis running on to the pitch , '' Prince William joked .

Now the historic match is over -LRB- Polytechnic won 2-1 -RRB- the corgis and geese have their garden back .

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Prince William shows off his football skills

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Takes part in training session on a specially laid pitch at Buckingham Palace

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Pitch was used for a match between two historic English football teams

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The Duke of Cambridge is President of English Football Association